Life Forged
by smende1983
Summary: Sequel to Life Unknown. Ithilwen continues her journey to find out more about who she is while helping members of the fellowship save Middle Earth. She will learn more of her past, about her gifts, and the love she has for Legolas. (Please read Life Unknown before you read this) 10th Mem. Story Rated M for future events and relationship developments.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tolkien created. Ithilwen is my own original character. **

**Here is the sequel to "Life Unknown." This will pick up pretty much where the last one left off. If you haven't read "Life Unknown" it would be best if you did before reading this one. I hope you all enjoy this one. I couldn't wait to start it off so I wrote the first chapter the same day I finished the first story. :)**

**I'm also going to try and add elvish into my chapters the best I can. I was a little scared to do it with the first story, but now I think I'm ready to start adding more into it. **

**Life Forged**

**Chapter 1**

His feet continued to pound the ground as they ran. It felt like they had been running for years, but it was only a day or two. He felt as if they were never going to catch up to them, as if the fate of the three that they chased to save was already written. He didn't feel tired, only empowered to keep going. He could still make out the group of orcs in the distance and that still gave him hope that they would get there.

He could keep running, but knew the other two with him would need to rest at moments so they weren't completely winded. He was running to save her, to forgive her, to love her, but was afraid he wouldn't get that chance. The further they went the more distance that came between them and the more his fear grew.

Legolas continued to keep his sights on the orc pack that carried Ithilwen, Merry, and Pippin. He needed to keep them in his sights so he wouldn't lose her. Aragorn and Gimli were able to keep up as well as they continued heir journey. It was a hard journey and one they hoped to complete successfully.

His mind wandered to the events that transpired just recently and to what he had seen. She was with Boromir. Was she telling the truth? Was she truly trying to be with another? He didn't know how to make sense of it. He didn't know how to tell whether she was telling the truth or not. His mind ran over those images over and over again. He saw the pain and heartbreak in her face as she cried, but he just walked away. He didn't stay to hear anymore of what she had to say. Now that look could quite possibly be the last thing he'll remember seeing of her if they don't reach them in time.

Ithilwen felt herself stir awake, but felt her body being bounced around in some way. Her head was throbbing, like it was going to be split in two. It was hard to open her eyes right now due to the pain she was in. Her shoulders were numb and sore and she felt her arms hanging possibly causing the pain in her shoulders.

Her midsection was in a lot of pain. The more coherent she became the more she understood as to how she was being carried. She was draped over the shoulder of one of the orcs. His armor was digging into her midsection, and rather painfully.

She could hear the large foot falls of all the orcs around her, but dared not say anything. She didn't want them to do something to her if they found out she was awake. She looked down a little and saw that her hands were bound and then noticed something even worse. Her gloves were gone.

She wasn't sure where Merry and Pippin were, but she just hoped that they were still alive. She then heard the orcs coming to a stop. "We'll take a break here for the night," one of them announced. She could now see that it was getting darker out. The one that was carrying her stopped and put her on the ground, but she still didn't see Merry and Pippin. She laid there and looked around before seeing them in the distance laying on the ground. "Start a fire," one of them said.

She carefully looked around trying to take in what was going on and just how many there were. As she looked around two of them stepped up to her, "Ahhhh she's awake," one of them said with a laugh. They both towered over her, with their dark bodies, horrible smell, and grotesque faces.

"You know what the orders were. They're supposed to be brought to Sauroman unspoiled. We can't harm them," the other said as a matter of factly.

"Oh but we can try and have a little bit of fun. No one will know the difference," the first said as he knelt down next to her. She didn't say anything as she looked up at him.

"Now, what kind of fun can we have with this one?" the first sneered as he looked over her. "We always have fun when we get a woman."

She cringed on the inside and didn't dare say anything to him.

"We love torturing them and playing with them until they can't take it anymore. They ask for death," he chuckled as he took out a knife and ran the tip over her cheek slowly, but didn't break any of the skin.

She turned her head away from him and then heard them gasp, "She's not a woman. She's an elf. Look, she has pointed ears," the second one told the first. Pointed ears? When did she get them? She knew that it might be unlikely that she'd have the physical features of an elf, but only the immortality. Apparently her ears had finally changed, showing everyone that she was indeed an elf.

"Oh even better," the first grinned showing off his black, rotted teeth. She could smell his foul breath when he breathed.

She looked at them trying to keep her emotions to herself. She was keeping her body as still as possible even though she wanted to shake with fear. She also wanted to make sure her hands didn't touch him. She didn't know what could possibly happen if she did.

"What do you think I should do to you?" he asked her as he played with his knife. "Should I cut little pieces of your dress off? Should I carve my name into your skin? Should I just start cutting?"

She again just laid there and stayed silent hoping he wouldn't do any of it. She didn't want anything to happen to her. She wanted to get out of this, but she feared that once they reached Isengard, that that would be the place she died.

"Maybe I should just leave a little mark right here," he said putting the knife right near her collar bone. He leaned into her and just out of instinct her hands touched his chest to push him away. As soon as she did she was inside his mind and it was filled with so much evil.

His mind stopped on a small memory of him fighting another orc. There must of been a disagreement or something happened. She could hear the screeching and the yells from everywhere. They were battling with swords, one trying to kill the other. The one he was fighting was a little bigger than he was and clearly had the advantage. His opponent slashed out with the sword and cut him across the chest leaving a long slash. She immediately got herself out of the memory and screamed in pain as she felt the blood soak her dress from her new wound.

"Her eyes, did you see her eyes?" the second one said. "They changed. What happened? What did she do?" he panicked.

"I don't know. I didn't even do anything to her. Her hands pushed on my chest and now she has a cut across her body," he said as he looked around to see what was going on. He didn't understand what had happened. He didn't know how that could have happened.

"Let's go before we get our heads chopped off for being over here," the second one said before they walked off quickly leaving her there on the ground.

The pain was almost unbearable as she looked down. The cut went from her right shoulder down across her body and stopped just below her left breast. She could see the blood on her dress. She knew the wound would begin to heal soon, but she had nothing for the pain. The scar would forever mark her body though. She turned her head away from the pack of orcs and closed her eyes letting her tears fall.

Why was she cursed with such a gift? Why was she given this? She didn't ask for it. It was only causing her pain and scarring her body. Who would want to live this kind of life? Who would want this at all?

The tears continued to fall as she laid on the cold, hard ground. She didn't know how to get out of here. She wished she had a way, but it didn't look like she would get one.

Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli continued their journey following the orc pack. They weren't going to give up so easily. Legolas continued to watch the pack as they traveled. It wasn't easy at times, but he needed too. He needed to see them so that he could get Ithilwen back. The longer it took to catch up to them the worse he felt about what happened in the forest before the Orc attack. What if he never saw her again? What if he couldn't talk to her and apologize?

Before dawn the orcs were up and going again. Ithilwen was picked up and flung over someone else's shoulder and carried off as the orcs took off again. She thought she would be ok, but as soon as the orc started to run she felt the searing pain through her chest and midsection again. She screamed out in pain as soon as they started running.

"Shut her up. We don't need anyone hearing her," one of the said as they stopped quickly.

One of the other orcs came over and tied something around her mouth to keep her quiet. It stunk so bad and it was so dirty. She didn't want to know where it came from, but it muffled her screams and cries of pain as they continued to travel. Her mind was about to loose consciousness from the pain when she thought of an idea. It would only work if Legolas was following them. She didn't know how far she could project this to him, but she was going to certainly try.

She took the best deep breath she could before she started concentrating on Legolas and only Legolas. She looked for his mind and did her best to reach out for it. She wanted to tell him where they were and how to get to them. She thought of the area they were at and thought about Isengard and Sauroman, giving him hints as to what was going on. She sent out mental pictures of where they were, but not of what had happened to her. She didn't want him to see that. She sent it as far as she could hoping Legolas was close enough to see what she was sending. She finally couldn't fight the pain any longer. She closed her eyes and slept from the pain and the energy she just spent on sending her thoughts to Legolas.

Legolas stopped his run when he started seeing images of the orc pack in his mind. He saw where they were camped the night before and where they were headed. His first thought was Ithilwen. She was sending him images and thoughts about what was happening. She was still alive. "Diola lle melamin," he said as a small smile graced his lips.

"What is it?" Aragorn asked as he looked at Legolas who had lagged behind. He went back to his friend to see what had happened.

"Ithilwen. She just sent me some of her thoughts on what she saw and where they are going," he informed Aragorn.

"Where are they taking them?" he asked with an urgency hoping they could cut them off from their path.

"They're taking them to Isengard," he said sadly.

"Sauroman," Aragorn said as he stood there and paced a moment.

"That's not good at all," Gimli commented as he listened.

"She's alive Aragorn. I can't condemn her to her death. We have to catch up to that pack to save their lives. If she gets to Isengard before we catch them I will never see her again. We need to travel as much as we can and as fast as we can," he encouraged. "I can't lose her."

Aragorn put his hand on Legolas' shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "You won't lose her. We'll get her back. Don't lose hope. We will get them all back."

Legolas simply nodded before they took off again running after the pack that still ran from them. He needed to save her. He needed to get her back.

As he continued his mind went back to a time the two of them spent together during the journey. They were able to find a private place to go and have some time to themselves. It didn't happen often, but he cherished those moments.

_They were in Lothlorien and she was healed now. They were leaving in the morning. He had only left Ithilwen in her room a few hours before now, but he couldn't sleep. They both needed to get their sleep, but he couldn't shut his eyes and rest just yet. He had to much on his mind. He got up and walked along the pathways of Lothlorien, heading for her room. He quietly got to her room and opened the door. He quietly walked in and closed the door behind him. _

_He looked upon the bed and saw her sleeping. He didn't want to disturb her, but didn't want to be a part from her. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the side she was laying. He reached down and gently ran his hand over her cheek. She was amazingly beautiful with her soft dark hair and her smooth skin. _

_Ithilwen stirred slightly and turned over, opening her eyes. She smiled when she saw him sitting there. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be sleeping," she said as she moved and sat up. _

_"Don't. I'll join you," he said as he moved over to the other side of the bed. He slipped his boots off before he lifted the covers and joined her. He normally didn't sleep with so many clothes on, but didn't want to frighten her. _

_She turned over and faced him. "Why couldn't you sleep?" she asked as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him. _

_"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he told her honestly. "I wanted to get some more alone time in with you before we had to continue our journey tomorrow. We won't have much time together after this, not without everyone around."_

_"That's true," she said as she moved and laid her head near his shoulder, under his chin while he held her. _

_Legolas closed his eyes and tried to memorize how this felt. He could hold her forever. She felt absolutely perfect in his arms and it was something he didn't want to go without. His hand ran up and down her back gently as they both rested._

_"When this is all over, what then?" she asked him quietly. _

_He thought about what they could possibly do. He could take her back to Rivendell or back to Mirkwood or they could make their home elsewhere. _

_"Whatever you'd like to do," he told her. "We can go back to Rivendell, go to Mirkwood, or whatever else you would like to do. I'll follow you anywhere."_

_She moved and looked up at him with a smile on her face, "And I you," she said before leaning in and kissing him gently on the lips. She let the kiss stay soft and gentle and so did he. Now wasn't the time to try and take this further and they knew that. _

_He pulled her closer to him as they continued to kiss. He'd never felt so much emotion for one person before and he knew he could never let her go. He cherished this woman. _

__Legolas put the memory away as he continued running. Somehow it gave him more strength to keep running to get closer to her. He could feel them getting closer and he hoped it stayed that way.

_**Diola lle melamin : Thank you my love.**_

**There's the start. Not as long as I would have liked it, but its a good start. Please leave some feedback for me on what you think about the start of story 2. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

************AUTHOR'S NOTE UPDATE BELOW************

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tolkien. I do own my original character Ithilwen.**

**I'm so glad that this story has had such a positive response. I'm hoping everyone is really enjoying it. Thank you for the people that have reviewed so far or have marked this as a follow or favorite. I appreciate it.**

**Sorry it took me so long to get this one out. I struggled a little bit with this one. I hope everyone still enjoys it. Let me know what you think.**

**Here's Chapter 2!**

**Life Forged**

**Chapter 2**

The day seemed to drag on much like the night did. The sun rose and poured over the dark, disgusting bodies of the orcs as they ran towards Isengard with their prisoners. The heat of the sun only made the stench of their bodies worse and the foulness in her stomach toss that much more. She could feel the heat on her back as the day progressed and felt the burning of the rays slip through her cloak and then through her dress. Including the pain from the deep gash on her chest and the armor of the orc carrying her pressing deeply into her midsection. The ride was very uncomfortable, but she would never say a word for fear of the consequence This was far better than walking or running behind them.

She didn't know the whereabouts of Merry and Pippin. She hadn't seen them since the night before when they stopped for rest. She hoped neither of them were injured and that they were still alive. She knew they had to be alive based on a comment one of the orcs made the night before, so that gave her some peace. She hoped that Legolas had gotten her thoughts and they were after them.

The ground didn't let up either. It was nothing but grassland as far as she could see when she turned her head. It was hard and wide open. She was hoping there would be others out there that might see the orcs and rescue them, but the chances of that were very slim. The more she looked across this country the more she recognized it. She had traveled over these lands before. They were close to Rohan. She knew they probably would be if they were traveling to Isengard. She wasn't sure if they'd see any of the Rohirrim, but she prayed that they might show themselves.

The journey began to get longer and more tedious. She tried to stay conscious as long as she could, but at times would sleep because she had no energy and her body was so worn down. At some point and time they'd taken the gag off of her and was able to breath fresh air. Ithilwen was still in so much pain from the gash across her chest. She could tell it was starting to heal, but the blood stained her dress. She hoped she could avoid any further injury through the rest of this journey, but it wasn't very promising since she was going to a place filled with evil and darkness.

"We'll take a quick break to regain our strength," the leader called out as the group stopped. The orc holding Ithilwen set her down and leaned her against a large boulder. She leaned against it as she squinted from the change in light. She looked around at all the orcs, watching as they ate a little food and drank from their water carriers. She didn't ask for anything from them and she wasn't going to. She looked around and spotted Merry and Pippin. They seemed ok, but she didn't say anything for fear of drawing attention.

As she stood there one of the orcs walked up to her, "Drink," he demanded shoving the water bag in front of her. She simply turned her head to the side.

"Drink!" he yelled at her as he shoved it in her face again. She just turned her head to the other side refusing to take anything from them.

The orc grabbed her chin roughly and turned her head. He then tilted her head up and poured the dirty, stinking, brown water down her throat. She immediately started choking as she tried to get out of his grasp. He hands instinctively came up and pushed him away. He stopped with the water, but she was already taken into one of his thoughts.

She was standing in a forest and had the urge to hunt something. The orc was looking for something, but she didn't know what. He moved slowly through this forest as he turned his head right to left. He had others with him. It was as if they were sneaking up on someone and had to be as quiet as possible. Suddenly something came out and attacked him cutting his left thigh. She felt the pain as the orc looked down briefly before attacking his attacker. She was brought out of the memory and cringed in pain as she felt the blood running down her leg. She looked down and saw the blood soaking her skirt. The orc must have followed her gaze and looked down.

"What did you do?" he asked her angrily. "How did you do that?"

She looked at him in panic, "I don't know. I don't know how it happened," she said, obviously lying to him not wanting him to know of her gift. She shifted her feet and nearly screamed in pain as she stepped down on her left foot, pain shooting quickly down her leg and up the left side of her body from that wound.

She leaned against the boulder putting the weight on her right foot as she stood there trying not to let it get to her. The more injuries she sustained the weaker she felt and she couldn't afford to be weak. She needed to get out of there and get to safety. At this rate she'd be near death when they arrived at Isengard.

"Let's move out," the leader called back. Her carrier came and picked her up roughly, not caring for her injuries. She bit her lip to keep from screaming if it would just keep the gag away form her mouth. She didn't want to smell that.

They started off in a run again and the pain continued to coarse through her body, _"Legolas, help, please. We need your help."_ She sent the message to Legolas hoping that he would get it.

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli continued to run across the plains of Middle Earth. They came up on some large boulders that shaped into cliffs. Legolas ran up onto one of those high setting cliffs and look out onto the lands to see what he could see.

Aragorn laid out on the ground and listened to the vibrations of the ground as the orcs' feet pounded the ground, "Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent." Aragorn then stood suddenly and took off.

Legolas followed closely behind him, "Come on Gimli," he called back as Gimli dragged behind. He wasn't a strong runner, but he was doing this best to keep up.

"Three days and nights pursuit no food, no rest, no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell," he sighed before running after them. "We're not getting any closer. How are we going to catch up to them?"

"We have hope. We will catch them and we will save them," Legolas told him as they kept running.

Their journey continued to take them through the plains, over rocks and around boulders. They came upon the path they had taken where they had just stopped. Aragorn stopped and bent down, "Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall," he said as he picked up the pin from one of the cloaks they were all given.

"They yet may be alive. We must keep going. We're getting closer. I can feel it. She keeps sending me thoughts and I can hear her voice. We can't be far behind," Legolas said as he looked at Aragorn.

"They're less than a day ahead of us. Come!" he says before running off in the direction the orcs headed.

Legolas turned to check on Gimli, "Come on Gimli. We're gaining on them," he shouted before taking off after Aragorn, not waiting to see how close Gimli was to them. His mind was only on catching up with those orcs.

The three of them ran up a large hill and came to the top. They stopped to survey the land. Legolas looked out over the vast land ahead of them. She was out there somewhere with those creatures. Every moment they didn't get closer the worse he felt.

"Rohan, home of the horse lords. There is something strange at work here," Aragorn mentioned at the feeling he got as he stood there. "Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us."

Legolas ran ahead to try and get a better look, "Legolas, what do your elf eyes see?" Aragorn called out to him.

"They're still heading to Isengard. We must hurry. They're getting to far ahead of us," he called back before he took off in a run to go after them. He wasn't going to waste anymore time.

Night fell and the orc pack was getting tired. "We stop here for the night," the leader announced. "Build a fire."

The orc carrying Ithilwen tossed her onto the ground and she groaned in pain. They were on the edge of a forest when they stopped. She didn't know exactly what forest it was, but she could tell they weren't far from Isengard. She didn't want to make it there. She hoped something or someone would come.

The orcs got together to make their fire and prepare for the night, "I'm starving. We haven't had nothing to eat for three stickin' days," one of them complained.

"Yeah. Why can't we have some meat?" another asked as his eyes wondered to Merry and Pippin. "What about them? They're fresh," he said as he looked over at them.

Ithilwen watched the exchanged and began to panic. "They are not for eating," the leader said angrily.

"What about their legs? They don't need those," another said as he snapped his jaw several times.

"No!" she yelled. "Please. Don't harm them," she called out, drawing all the attention to her.

"Ohhhh. What about her? She looks tasty," one of them said as he began to step closer to her. She stood her ground as she moved to stand. The hobbits didn't need to be harmed. They were innocent in all of this.

"NO. She must make it to the master unspoiled. He needs her for this war," the leader told them. "She will not be touched."

"Come on. Just a few nibbles, we'll let her live," the other continued. "She looks so good. I bet she tastes sweet. I can taste her already going over my lips and touching my tongue." She cringed at the image he was painting.

"No. No one will touch her or the shire rats," the leader said again, just louder. One of the orcs started to creep closer to her and she tensed up waiting for him to touch her, but the leader swung and cut off his head in front of her before he had the chance. "Looks like meats back on the menu boys."

Before she knew it the orcs were swarming toward her and she panicked. She moved back and tripped over a rock, falling to the ground. An orc followed her and grinned, "Looks like you can't go anywhere now. I'd sure like to taste just how sweet you are," he grinned down at her. She watched him start to make his move and then suddenly he froze. He cried out as she saw a spear sticking out from his body. He fell over soon after and laid on the ground.

She turned at the sound of horses pounding around her. There were horsemen everywhere. She didn't know what was going on. She watched as they began to slaughter the orcs. She moved to stand to try and get out of harms way. She looked for the hobbits but there was so much going on that she couldn't see them anywhere. She just prayed that they found safety.

Ithilwen ran in another direction to try and get out of the fight, but was suddenly brought down to the ground by something. She turned and looked, seeing an orc laying on top of her. She tried wiggling and getting out of the way, but it was no use. He turned her over quickly and to try and defend herself she took her hands and punched him in the face, but even that touch took her into a quick memory. That memory consisted of the orc getting slashed four times along the abdomen. She felt the slashes take shape on her own body before the orc was thrown from her. She screamed in pain as she laid there fighting the darkness.

"My lord Eomer," she heard someone call out. "She's alive. She's bound and badly injured."

A man rode up on his horse and looked down. "Pick her up and take her with you. Make sure to cover her wounds. We'll get her as close to Edoras as we can without being seen. She needs care and my sister is the best to give her that care."

She was slowly slipping into darkness and the last thing she heard was, "She may not make the journey, but we will certainly try and get her there," he told the man who picked her up and then there was nothing.

Dawn was upon the three that were searching for their friends. Legolas looked to the sky and paused, seeing the colors painting the horizon. "A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night," he said as he looked back towards Aragorn.

Aragorn looked at his face and saw the fear in his eyes. "We will find her. We haven't lost her."

"How can you be so sure? How do I know that we haven't lost her?" Legolas questioned.

"What is your heart saying?" Aragorn asked as he walked up to him.

"That she's alive," he said simply. He could feel it. He could feel her life and that she was still alive.

"Then she's alive Legolas. Don't fear, we will get to her and we will get to Merry and Pippin. We will save them," he told him. "Let's keep going."

Aragorn turned and ran off and Legolas wasn't far behind. He wanted to see her, see that she was alright, see that she was safe.

As they ran they could hear horses coming. Aragorn ushered them in between a couple of boulders to hide. He wasn't sure what was coming or who was coming, but they needed to get out of sight. They watched as a group of horsemen flew by them. Aragorn recognized who they were and knew they were friendly. After they went by Aragorn stepped out.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the mark?" he yelled out as Legolas and Gimli joined him as the riders turned and began circling the three as if they were a threat. They circled them completely two to three levels deep with their weapons drawn on them.

Eomer came up through the horses, "What business does an Elf, a man and a dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"

"Give me your name Horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli said with a smirk on his face.

Eomer gets down from his horse and approached Gimli, "I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

Legolas quickly drew and arrow and pointed it at Eomer, "You would die before your stroke fell," he threatened as the riders all pointed their weapons closer to the three in the middle.

Aragorn stepped up slightly, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This Gimli, son of Gloin and Legolas of the Woodland Realm. We are friends of Rohan and Theoden, your king."

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," Eomer shared with a sigh as the spears pointed at the three were pulled back.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets."

"We are not spies," Aragorn started. "We track a party of uruk-hai westward across the plain. they've taken three of our friends captive."

"The uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night," Eomer told him as Legolas tensed. Did they see her? Do they know where she is?

"But there were two hobbits and a woman. Did you see them?" Gimli asked.

"My lord," a rider called to him. "My lord."

Eomer turned and looked at the man who held the woman in his saddle with him. He waved him forward. "We did not see the hobbits, but we did find a woman," he shared as the rider inched forward.

Legolas looked up immediately and saw her wrapped in her cloak. He walked up and gently took her down from the rider and held her in his arms. Aragorn walked over and gently moved the hood from her face. It was her. It was Ithilwen. They had found her.

**8/20/13 Author's Note: I apologize for not updating in so long. I will update as soon as I can. Work is really busy and I haven't had time to sit and concentrate on the next chapter. I apologize. I also wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU to all the people who have been reading Life Unknown and Life Forged. I'm reading your reviews and getting all the awesome emails for the followers. Thank you so much! I appreciate it. I didn't want to leave everyone hanging. Just wanted to say that I hope to start updating again. Sorry I've been kind of out of the loop. Keep watching for an update in the next couple of weeks. **


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